Cervical Screening Awareness Month 2025

Regular cervical screening helps protect you against cervical cancer – one of the most preventable cancers. If you have a cervix, you’re between 25-69 years old, and you’ve ever had sex, it’s important to get screened every five years to reduce your risk of developing cervical cancer.

Cervical screening is a test that looks for cancer-causing strains of human papillomavirus (HPV). Early detection of this virus helps prevent cervical cancer.

For most people, this test is a vaginal swab. You can choose to take the swab yourself, or a nurse or doctor can take it for you. Your sample is then sent away and tested for HPV.  

The HPV self-test became the main form of cervical screening in Aotearoa New Zealand in September 2023. If your last cervical screen was before then, you would’ve had a different type of test where a nurse or doctor took a cell sample from your cervix (this is sometimes called a smear test or a pap smear).  

For your next screening, you can choose to have a cervical sample taken if you’d prefer, but most people prefer the HPV self-test.

If no HPV is found in your sample, you don’t have to do anything until your next cervical screening is due.

If HPV is found in your sample, it doesn’t mean you have cervical cancer. Many people end up with an HPV infection at some point in their lives, and most of the time, these infections clear up by themselves. If the virus is found, you will need a follow up test to check for any cell changes on your cervix.  

It’s recommended that everyone with a cervix aged 25-69 has a cervical screening test every five years. Some people might need cervical screening every three years. Cervical screening is important even if you’ve had the HPV vaccine.  

HPV is often not detected until years after you come in contact with the virus. That’s why it’s important to get regular screening, even if you’ve been with the same partner or you haven’t been sexually active for a long time. A positive HPV test doesn’t mean recent exposure.

Te Whatu Ora funds free cervical screening for many people with a cervix, but not everyone. Cervical screening could be free if you are: 

• over 30, and you’ve never had a screening test
• over 30, and you haven’t had a test in the past five years
• getting a follow up appointment
• Māori or Pacific and aged 25-69
• aged 25-69, with a Community Services Card 

See our Fees page for more details.